Vox has moved close to 20% in voting intentions during a week dominated by Spain's housing crisis, according to Ignacio Urquizu, chief executive of Metroscopia, a Spanish opinion-research company.
Speaking on Friday 2 October on Onda Cero, a national Spanish radio broadcaster, Urquizu said the PSOE, Sumar and Podemos had all declined while the Partido Popular (PP) remained unchanged. For renters and vulnerable households, the political dispute has immediate relevance: Congress rejected measures that would have barred evictions of vulnerable families and extended rental contracts.
“Nobody wins from what is happening, and there is much to lose,” Urquizu said.
PP remains below its recent ceiling
Urquizu said the PP was stable at about 30%–31% of the vote, a level it had been unable to exceed. He said the right-wing bloc's stronger position was being driven by Vox rather than by the PP.
He also said criticism over the housing situation appeared to be damaging the national government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, because part of the public discontent was directed at it.
Congress rejects proposed tenant protections
Spain's Congress rejected the government's two housing decrees on 2 October after votes against from Junts, the PP and Vox. The measures included protections that would have prevented evictions of vulnerable families and prolonged rental agreements.
- Junts voted against the decrees despite an offer from Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez to process the texts later as legislation that could be amended.
- The PP voted against the measures.
- Vox also voted against them.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Congress during the vote, while people in the public gallery shouted that “vulture funds rule Congress” before being removed from the chamber.
Reported by elconfidencial.com, vanitatis.elconfidencial.com, Catalan News, Chris Havler-Barrett, El Confidencial.
